Фау-2. Сверхоружие третьего рейха. 1930-1945

by Walter Dornberger, Вальтер Дорнбергер, Ilan Polotsk (Translator)

Генерал Вальтер Дорнбергер, руководивший немецкой экспериментальной программой по созданию ракет дальнего радиуса действия, раскрывает тайны секретных научных поисков, результаты которых могли спасти Гитлера от поражения. Если бы Германия успела пустить в ход это новое оружие на полгода раньше, освобождение Европы могло стать невозможным.

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

351 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having moved to Park Ridge at age ten, from fifth to eighth grade I was not happy at school and became adept at feigning illness. Usually I was actually ill at the outset, but I'd exaggerate the symptoms, partly by acting, partly by placing the thermometer at the base of the bedside lamp just long enough to raise its reading to a plausible temperature. Mother may have suspected foul play. In any case I was confined to bed during these periods. While that was not ideal, it was okay as it allowed a lot of reading.

During one of the junior high episodes I had at hand a fascinating book about German rocket science during the war written by the commanding officer of their Peenemünde facility and introduced by the anti-Nazi rocket scientist Willy Ley. It was a sanitized version of events. I recall no mentions of the slave labor employed or of Project Paperclip, the United States' illegal smuggling of Nazi scientists to new jobs with the War Department. Indeed, von Braun and the rest were mostly portrayed as scientists making the best of a bad deal, scientists and engineers more interested in space exploration than in terror bombing London. I bought it and enjoyed it at the time, remembering the days of its reading as one of the more constructive illnesses of elementary school.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

History up close. Dornberger was the officer in charge of developing rocket weapons for the Nazis and this book is his personal account of the struggle against bureaucracy and gravity to develop weapons that could obliterate London. About as amoral a work as one can imagine, every page makes me mindful of the Tom Lehrer tune about Wernher von Braun -- "Once the rockets go up, who cares where they come down?" Still, it's a heck of a story. Dornberger was clearly a prophet/zealot for his technology and mostly oblivious to the horrible masters who gave him orders. I meant to read this book before I revisited Gravity's Rainbow, but ended up reading the Pynchon novel first. Still, I'd highly recommend V-2 to anyone tackling GR for the detailed background it provides on the A4's development and to the strange, alien psyches of the men who worked on it.

[Bill Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

General Walter Dornberger directed Peenemunde, the German experimental rocket station during WWII. He relates history of the development from the initial A-1 (Aggregate 1) rocket, through to the deployment of the A-4 as the V-2 towards the end of the war. Germany undertook research on liquid fueled rockets as a means of expanding it's military capability while staying within the limitations placed on the country by the Treaty of Versailles.

The author recounts the technical history of development with good technical detail on the problems encountered, the solutions that were tried, and their final resolution. The accomplishments of the technical staff, including von Braun, Gessner and Thiel, are detailed. Notable developments include the use of centrifugal nozzles to reduce the length of the combustion chamber from 6 feet to 1 foot, the use of graphite vanes in the exhaust for steering, and the use of a control system that was not just position sensing but also rate sensing.

The management of the project is also detailed with the various attempts to gain priority, funding and materials for the developments. He describes his meetings with prominent Nazis, including Hitler, Himmler, Goering, and Kammler, including sketches of their character and mannerisms. Toward the end of the war, a number of power struggles occurred that detracted from the deployment. While the V-2 could have changed the course of the war, it's deployment came too late.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent account of the technical and political problems of development of the V-2 rocket and the other rocket projects under the NAZI regime in Germany. The mixing of the scientific, industrial, political (Hitler), military, and quasi-military/political/terrorist (Gestapo) leaders in Germany at the time insured that what was actually accomplished was surprising.

[David Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing inside look at the origin and struggles in producing the earliest liquid-fuel rockets. I enjoyed this peek behind the internal struggles of Nazi politics and technical hurdles the scientists endured.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just remembered this one this morning along with several other old books. I assume that still more will leak out now and then. I believe I got this one from the Scholastic Magazine mail order program back in Jr. High in the late 50's. Miss Inman's 8th grade English class at Casey in Boulder. It's even the right cover. Haven't seen it for 40-50 years! Don't remember much about it... Date read is a guess.

[Jeff Kesner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside information on the functioning of a military industrial complex and the circumlocution used therein. In other conditions, this is a collectible book. My copy is just an old, used, paperback.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating resource, though very self-serving and of questionable voracity.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good book about the details of V2 development during WWII.